Principal's Post - Week of November 5th

November is here already and it's time to turn back the clocks. Daylight Savings Time Ends this weekend. Don't forget to turn back your clocks 1 hour before you go to bed on Saturday, November 3, 2018 and enjoy that extra hour of sleep.

No School for Students on Tuesday, November 6, 2018

There will be no school for students on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. This is the date that NAMS Team Teachers schedule parent/guardian conferences.

Picture Retakes

Hockmeyer pictures are expected to be sent home with students next week. Retakes are scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, November 13, 2018. Students requesting retakes should bring their picture packet with them on the day of picture retakes and give their picture packet to the photographer. Students who were absent on picture day should have their photo taken on retake day. Again, picture retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

NAMS Peer Leaders

We are proud to share that 30 Grades 7 & 8 students have completed the Anti-Defamation League’s peer training program entitled “A World of Difference.” Ms. Blaney and Ms. Duchesneau are the program leaders for this program and also participated in the 4 days of training with students. Students in the program will now be meeting weekly with our program leaders in order develop skills so they can facilitate workshops for their peers that will provide participants with 1) the opportunity for inter-group dialogue 2) an increased understanding of the causes of prejudice; 3) a fuller appreciation of racial, ethnic, cultural, and other individual differences; and 4) conflict management skills ot respond positively when confronted with bias-related behaviors such as bullying and harassment. Then, starting in the winter our peer leaders will be going into 6th grade classrooms to run student to student workshops.

We were very fortunate to be able to bring this program to NAMS and will be scheduling workshops for our staff by members of the ADL in November and December. You can see some pictures of the students during the trainings tweeted on our website and on the Social & Emotional Learning district page found here.

NAHS Fall Open House for Current Grades 7 & 8 Families

North Andover High School welcomes all 7th and 8th grade parents/guardians and students to their Fall Open House on Thursday November 15, 2018 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. to hear about the academic and extracurricular programs that are offered at NAHS. You may find the agenda for this event here and the presentation is also available for your review here.

North Andover Girl Scout Troop 85441 would like to invite any interested Grade 6 girls to join. The Troop meets at 3:15 usually two Fridays a month, and have many other fun coordinated activities and learning opportunities. The contact person and troop leader is Annie Rhodes and she can be contacted at 978-884-1804 for anyone who would like more info.

North Andover Food Rescue

North Andover volunteers have implemented a Food Rescue program that is now in all North Andover Public Schools We collect thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise have been discarded and distribute it to our community and the surrounding communities.

We have collection baskets on each lunch table in the cafeteria. We have asked the children simply to place the perfectly good food, that they would otherwise have thrown away, in the Food Rescue Collection basket instead. We have told all the staff and the children that this is only if they would have thrown it away instead. They are encouraged to eat what they have or bring it back home as best options. But, if they choose neither, we accept unopened packaged food, fruit, vegetables, milk, yogurt, cheese sticks, and even untouched food packed at home.

So where does it all go? The nurses in our schools have been thrilled to be able to provide healthy options to the kids that come to them hungry, ill, or if they need to eat or drink with medications. Without this food, nurses frequently must buy food themselves to serve this purpose. Our nurses, as always, are ever mindful of allergy and other health restrictions and choose what is appropriate for their situations.

Any food that doesn’t go to our nurses goes to a local food shelter or to the North Andover Youth Center.

We are staffed mostly by volunteers and supported by the North Andover Schools Food Services. Volunteers pick up food from the elementary schools, bring it to the high school where it is sorted, and deliver boxes to Daybreak Shelter in Lawrence.

We could really use some more help. The time commitment can be as little as 30 minutes as we have broken up each part of the service so one can do as little or as much as they can manage in any given day. If you are available to help, go to http://signup.com/go/bUheLv. We are happy to train you and give you all the direction you need. Any questions? Feel free to e-mail us at NAfoodrescue@gmail.com.

We’re so proud to be able to bring this program to North Andover but we can’t do it alone. Thank you so much for your support.